The Ship who Sang

I have lots to say about Helva, to me she is just so complex! She has the tender heart needed to take great care of her passengers, she is so plugged in to what is happening all around her at all times emotionally because of how she watches body language and pays close attention to verbals. Helva is so open to helping with Romeo and Juliet even though she is a little concerned about the envelopes it is exciting to be part of the production. So Helva has all these great emotions and positive womenly ways about her right down to how she checks out every single male that come abboard her ship. There is a masculine side to Helva as well!! Helva does know how to think logically without emotions when she has to. Helva is not affraid to tell anyone where to go if there is a conflict that she will not tolerate. Helva in times of stress has great critical thinking and problem solving skills that end up literally saving the men on her ship. I love that there is no need for some man to save Helva. Yes she would love a regular Brawn to work with her but she's ok by herself, strong by herself like Katsa in Graceling. I am happy Helva decided not to live her life in the envelope!! She is the ship and the ship is her the combination really makes Helva the perfect balance between feminine and masculine

Helva

So I know I wrote the blog about Helva wanting to be as human as possible in the begining of the book, well that perception totally changed after reading a little further!! I now see that Helva is proud of who she is. When Helva has her inside decor refreshed and decorated so to speak she does this because she is proud of who and what she is and works ahrd to be the best she can be. I love how you could really take a look at why she invested so much on the inside of herself (ships decor) and not the outside. I get the fact that the passengers ride on the inside, comfort and all that jazz but I wonder if you could take that analogy and say that is McCaffrey saying keep your insides clean? Ha Ha I'm sure it means something. I think it just means Helva wants and cares enough to have her passengers be comfortable. I think it means Helva cares about how other people view her physically. I really think that is part of the reason Helva always had the good coffee available, for the same reason I shower every morning it's how you represent yourself to others.

The Ship That Sang

I already love Helva's spirit!!! I think Helva is this ship who is spooky smart and great at everything she does but there is so much more to her than that. The reason I say this is because from the beginning of the book you see how Helva looks at things just alittle differently than others in her position. Helva pays more attention to what is going on around her emotionally. Helva's curiosity and determination is what helps her learn how to sing. I really feel that Helva knows she has a job to do, she knows she is a ship and very strong but she wants people who fly with her on missions to treat her in a very humanistic way. Helva has such personality and really wants the people who fly with her to not just see her as a nice top of the line brain ship but as a person as well. I love how she is constantly assessing who comes abboard and whether she thinks they have good character or not. You really get the impression from early on that Helva wants to love and be loved and cherished. I also notice that because she is a female brain ship generally people are startled by just how sharp she is and they question her abilities as a ship. They ask Helva if she can perform tasks that they know any brainship could carry out maybe thinking initially that her ship will be weaker just because it's the singing ship with a female brain.

Star Trek

I have to admitt there were times throughout this movie where I had a hard time following what was going on. By the end of the movie it made sense and the plot seemed to come together. I figured my confusion stemmed from the fact that I was not very familiar with Star Trek and the history behind it. I realized that you really could watch this production and get the message without knowledge of the rest of the story.
Anyway what I wanted to talk about was the role of Dr. Picard. I really got a kick out of the fact that he was just this very intelligent aloof drunk looking to make some money by creating this ship that could travel faster than lightspeed. This regular guy in the future ends up to be this huge hero and because the future comes to him he is slapped in the face with this stardom and is very uncomfortable with having all these people oohing over him and his creation. He is looked at as an idol. When he finds out that there is a statue of him in the future world he just can't handle it because deep down he knows he really would not have been sucessful without Lilly. I think it makes him quite nervous to have to finish accomplishing the ship knowing that Lilly is not present to help him achieve that final goal. Dr. Picard really doesn't see his creation as something that will change the way things are in the future. Dr. Picard really is just living in the moment and thinking about gaining wealth so that he can continue to drink and be a free spirit. I believe when he realizes that the ship he and Lilly put together changes the future and has this great impact on space travel he freaks out alittle and comes to understand the importance of what he is doing. I also think it hits him hard at the end of the movie when the clingons come to visit, just how important Lilly really was to him and reaching their goal. I would have liked the ending better if they would have met the clingons together side by side, giving Lilly the credit she deserved.